Dear DGS Families,
Aaaaaaand, we’re back! We’ve really enjoyed our opening days with students. As of today, we have 847 students coming to us from the communities of Cranston, Riverstone, Seton, as well as our legacied students from Copperfield. Our very high registration numbers means we have taken the step of adding a 7th Grade 6 classroom, which opens this week. We want to take this opportunity to share our full staffing compliment with you:
Grade 5
- Stephanie Gordon- Learning Leader
- Karen Sloane
- Bobbi Ray Cody
- Shauna King
Grade 6
- Kim McArthur- Learning Leader
- Dmitry Shapoval
- Adrian Murphy
- Tannis Palamar
- Bonnie Hama
- Chantal Connolly
- Sienna Cashion-Dextrase
Grade 7
- Janice Ramsay- Learning Leader
- Garrett Klein
- Tim Gordon
- Madelyn McCaskill
- Krysta Moore
- Jonathan Look
Grade 8
- Erin Markusoff- Learning Leader
- Jessilyn Shank
- Bryce Lanz
- Jenna Lyster
- Logan Warga
- Jaryn Flower
Grade 9
- Kim Schumacher- Learning Leader
- Theo Titopoulos
- Megan Richardson
- Joe Deo (Nathan Webb)
- Doug Buist
- Mike Evans
CTF/Fine Arts
- Sanjay Bhandari- Learning Leader
- Emily Thomas
- Jo-Anne Richardson
- Adam Bailey- Learning Leader
PE and Wellness
- Sherri Collens (PE)
- Spencer Hudson (PE)
- Luke Dyer (PE)
Students Services
- Brenda Wright- Learning Leader
- Sarah Duhra- 0.5 EAL
- Rebecca Brunsch- Resource and EAL
Education Assistants and Dedicated Lunchroom Staff
- Melanie Matjasic (EA and LR)
- Patricia Derosier (EA and LR)
- Milly Baldock (EA and LR)
- Dawn Koltusky (LR)
- Hannah Engel (LR)
Office and Learning Commons
- Chantal Malette (Principal)
- Kenzie Rushton (Assistant Principal)
- Teresa Ardelan- Administrative Assistant E
- Chelsey Webster- Secretary
- Michelle Tremblay- Bookkeeper (Tues and Thurs)
- Leigha McNelly- Library Assistant
This is a more lengthy update, as it contains important information related to general student life at DGS. (Buckle in for excitement and adventure!)
Lunchtime on Our Campus
Our campus is a CLOSED CAMPUS. The student lunch break is 35 minutes long and students are supervised and offered a variety of activities and spaces in the building during this time. We do NOT permit students to be signed out to go off campus or go to friends' houses for lunch. We do NOT allow students to be signed out to walk to Sobey’s, etc. We also are not equipped to receive food app deliveries- no such deliveries are permitted and orders will be sent back to the restaurant by the main office.
Students whose parents have provided a written request to the Office for their student to walk home for lunch every day must leave campus as soon as their lunch hour starts, return no more than 5 minutes before the start of afternoon classes, and must sign in and out of the main office daily. If you are picking your student up for lunch, please let us know when you arrive at the school, and we will have them sign out when we see your vehicle.
Students need to have their lunch with them each day. If a student has forgotten lunch, we do have emergency supplies in the main office. Students will be able to purchase (cash only) snack items to supplement lunches from the Servery and pre-ordering from Healthy Hunger will be available. There are NO microwaves for students to use. Hot water IS available at the Servery.
PE and Wellness
Students get 40 minutes of PE and Wellness daily. Students do not change for PE and Wellness. Physical education and wellness promotes the development of the whole individual and aims to nurture students in their pursuit of a healthy and active life.
Communication from the School
I send home a weekly update for families every Wednesday. This update includes messages about schoolwide initiatives, important reminders and an updated list of dates. Your child’s teacher will use school messenger, email and google classroom to communicate with you. Google Classrooms will be updated every day with basic learning tasks each day by 4:00pm. Updated assessment information about student learning can be found in PowerSchool starting on Friday September 27. Assessment information is updated every two weeks in PowerSchool. Teachers are asked to provide at least one piece of assessment data for each core area every two weeks. Your student’s homeroom teacher is your first point of contact for day-to-day questions, concerns and information sharing. Please allow teachers 24 hours to respond to messages.
For Student Life Updates, (such as tryout, practice and rehearsal calendars), please follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dgs67s/
Or, use the calendar feature on our school website:
Interschool Athletics
Grade 5 and 6 students are able to participate in our “Junior 67s” programs for our regular seasons of play. This is a club-based experience that allows for fair play, skill development and healthy, active living. As clubs start up, teachers will connect with students in their classrooms to gauge interest and set schedules.
Grade 6-9 students are welcome to try out for all DGS Sports Teams. Cross Country and Wrestling are no-cut teams. All interschool athletics tryouts will be announced via the school’s website.
Walking Fieldtrips
Please see the attached school-wide notice related to the practice of walking fieldtrips within the community of Cranston. Walking Trips - Parent Letter2024.docx
Attendance
If your child is going to be away from school, please email drgeorgestanley@cbe.ab.ca and your child’s homeroom teacher so we can update attendance daily. You can also call the school’s attendance line at 403 817 3556. The PowerSchool App will show you daily attendance in “real-time“, we just ask for your patience each day while we input any reported Absences and update Lates. SchoolMessenger contacts all legal guardians daily by email and phone at approximately 10:00am and 2:00pm if a student is late or absent.
Signing Your Child Out for Appointments, etc
If your young person needs to leave school during the day, we ask that this information is communicated to your child’s homeroom teacher and the main office. It’s best to email both drgeorgestanley@cbe.ab.ca and your child’s homeroom teacher. You can also call the main office at 403 817 3556.
Bikes, Skateboards and Scooters
We strongly encourage all students to walk, bike, skateboard or scooter their way to school. Bikes, skateboards and scooters MUST be stored in our outside racks (NOT in student lockers)- we do not have the room to store these in lockers, classrooms or main office. All items should be secured with a lock to the racks. Our skateboard and scooter racks work best with a padlock OR a bike lock wound through enough times to take out all of the slack. DGS cannot be responsible for lost or stolen bikes, scooters or skateboards. We recommend that all bikes be registered with Bike Index. Calgary Police Service partners with Bike Index to return lost and stolen bikes. https://www.calgary.ca/cps/public-services/bike-index.html
Traffic Safety- Did You Know?
There are now “No U-Turn” signs installed at the 4-Way Stops at Cranston Drive and Cranston Road SE and the 4-Way stop at Cranston Drive and Cranberry Road (entrance to staff parking lot). This decision was made in conjunction with CBE Transportation, Calgary Police Service and the City of Calgary. The goal is to reduce the number of people choosing to do U-Turns in marked crosswalks. Please plan ahead- meeting your child a bit farther from the school improves safety for everyone.
Dropping Off and Picking Up
We ask for careful driving habits around the school. Please ensure students use marked crosswalks when they exit your vehicle. The parent drop-off zone is along Cranston Drive. Please do not stop in the bus zone along Cranston Road, and please do not enter the staff parking lot for any reason.
School Council and Parent Fundraising Society
These meetings take place on the last Tuesday of every month, in the evening. Meetings are held in the staff room, with the ability to switch to virtual should weather or other circumstances warrant it. Information is sent out via school messenger in advance of all meetings. Our School Council’s voice is an important stakeholder in student life at DGS.
Homeroom Placements
Thank you for being respectful of the classroom assignments for our students. We are not making changes to student homeroom placement at this time. The priorities when creating classrooms are around teaching and learning, class size, balancing complexity and creating welcoming and safe classrooms for our students. We continue to register a higher than anticipated number of students at our school.
Bus Students
We now have 9 busses at DGS. Please ensure your child(ren) know the DGS Route Letter that identifies the bus they ride. They are responsible for knowing this important piece of information. Teachers are being mindful of ensuring students are able to be at the busses on time for departure. Most enquires related to transportation services, stops, bus routes and ridership should be directed to transportation@cbe.ab.ca
Servery/Tuck Shop
The Servery will be up and running the week of September 16. Our servery offers snacks and drinks for sale Monday-Thursday at lunch. All items are a maximum of $3.00
Healthy Hunger
Healthy Hunger ordering is up and running with deliveries starting the week of September 16. Restaurants will continue to be added until every school day has one available.
Account registration, meal selections and electronic payment are all to be completed by families on the Healthy Hunger website. Orders are required 5 days before the lunch date. Need to cancel an order? That is possible on your Healthy Hunger account, prior to the cut-off. Please see their website for further information on the program.
If your child is absent on the day of an order, you may contact the school office to make alternative arrangements (examples: parent pick-up, donation, etc.). Orders will only be held until 1:00pm the following school day.
Personal Mobile Device Policy
Last week, we sent home information related to the CBE’s PMD Policy. We appreciate your support in ensuring your child is prepared for all mobile phones, air pods, smart watches and gaming systems to be put away from 8:30-2:55pm. We really encourage families to explore avenues other than phones and smart watches to assist with things like self-regulation. Landline phones are located in all classrooms, and arrangements can be made for your child to contact you. Messages delivered to the main office will be given to students in a timely fashion. We would like to again remind students and families that this policy extends to mobile phones, wireless headphones and ear buds, and all smart watches. New this year is the clearly identified expectation that mobile devices not be present with students in areas where a higher degree of privacy should be expected- specifically, school washrooms.
Receiving SchoolMessenger?
We have had a number of families connect with us, concerned about not receiving communication that other familes have received. Upon investigation, we have found that in almost all of these situations the issue is the messages are being blocked. Our web-support team has shared the following information to pass along to our families:
"Blocks can happen if you intentionally or accidentally tag an email as spam or junk, or sometimes email servers sense that an email is coming from an electronic mailing system and try to save you from the spam and the system blocks our emails. It can be helpful if you add your usual senders to your address book, then your system will recognize the messages as safe and not flag them as spam, (your teacher's email addresses, or the schools email address) who-ever usually sends the messages. If you also add cbecommunications@cbe.ab.ca that will help to ensure you receive system messages."
Upcoming Dates
Monday September 9
- Exploratory Classes start Grades 7-9
Wednesday September 11
- School Picture Day
Monday September 16
- Servery/Tuck Shop opens
- Healthy Hunger deliveries begin
Thursday September 19
- Welcome Back- Meet Our Teachers 6pm to 8pm in the backyard
Friday September 20
- Terry Fox Activities
Tuesday September 24
- School Advisory Council and Parent Fundraising Society Meeting (7:00 pm, staff room)
Friday September 27
- Non-Instructional Day (No School for Students)
Monday September 30
- National Day for Truth and Reconcilation (SCHOOL CLOSED)
As always, you are welcome to reach out to me any time. We appreciate that success at school is a team endeavour!
Chantal Malette
Principal, Dr. George Stanley School
Calgary Board of Education | www.cbe.ab.ca
t | 403.817.3556
